[betula]

Having owned the Omni / Ori, I must correct you. Early days of ZMF was doing Fostex T50 mods! Zach definitely knows his planars! Hope you enjoy the Caldera. I am a BIG fan of ZMF and have owned several but prefer the Elite to Caldera, caveat that I only auditioned the Caldera at CanJam. Happy listening @betula, and let us know how the Elite / Caldera compare for your preferences.

I know, that Zach started off with T50 mods, but he designed the Caldera from scratch including the transducers. So, this is his first planar he built from scratch.
I am also looking forward to the next few weeks!

 

[zach915m]

Zachs Support is great but I want to make you aware, that the lifetime warranty only counts for the dynamic drivers and not for Caldera drivers.

Interesting, he corrected it saying it was a typo
I only knew the original Statement from the website.
Guess it's for All drivers after all - which is great for us customers

It would not be a warranty, if a broken driver was not fixed/replaced, would it? Lifetime warranty means, you do not have to worry about the drivers in any ZMF headphones as long as you are the original owner, and you are still breathing.

That said, ZMF has only been seriously in the business for about 8 years (pretty much since the Omni/Ori), so they didn't have to deal with 20-30 years old drivers. I imagine, this lifetime thing might change at some point. Or it might not. Bryston also offers 20 years on their amps. These companies should really be an example to those manufacturers who refuse to give more than a year or two warranty on their products.
Sorry for the slightly off topic.

Sorry I don't mean to intrude here, and I am an absolute Meze elite fanboy myself - but yes it was a typo, we just didn't have any planars for a long time, we have no plans to change our warranty to original owners. We want owners to listen to their headphones and not worry about them failing, and we make sure to keep inventory of extra drivers and such to support this.

 

[Roybenz]

Hi all!

I recently bought a Meze Audio Elite Epoque. Great headphones!





In addition, mine are still under the beautiful number 30)



I listen on:

Network Transport: Innuos ZEN Mk3




DAC: Holo Spring II KTE



Amplifier: Cayin HA-300MK2



All this beauty sits on:



In general, I was pleased with the sound of the headphones!

But one question remains guys:

Help me find an equalizer for Roon for Hybrid Earpads

Thank you in advance!

How is the elite with ha300b mk2 ? Compared to moon 430had if you have heard it ? Or any other good ss amp?

Meze Elite + Angled pads + Lavricables Grand + Lab12 dac1 reference + Violectric V222 + Volumio Rivo = jaw dropping experience listening to Mendelssohn: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 5 by Les Ambassadeurs - La Grande Écurie (https://open.qobuz.com/album/h2x3yrdjwivkb)

How would you compare the Lavricable grand with the meze elite silver upgrade cable ? Thanks

OK I was stupid enough to try the Elites out while traveling about and now I'm seriously contemplating selling my Susvaras for the Meze. They have served me well for a couple of years but there was just this hard-to-describe magic in the Elites, the lushness I guess... I'm terrified I'm gonna regret this though. Worth it? What will I miss? Will I be better served looking at other more complimentary phones to the Susvara like the Caldera, D8000, etc? Analysis paralysis indeed.

I sold the susvara after getting the elites. I was searching for a more smoother and warm HP, the susvara always was to thin and bright for me no matter what amp and dac I got for it. The elite with angled pads is very close to susvara but without the bright sound. I really enjoy the elites with moon 430had and angled pads. Using the meze silver cable.

But I’m considering if I should get the cayin ha300b mk2 again. (Had it with susvara)

 

[JeffMann]

I own the Susvara and the Elite and I use a Cayin HA300MK2 headphone amplifier to power them. The Elite sounds great and full-bodied, while the Susvara sounds too thin and bright. So, I only listen to my Elite headphone. I should sell the Susvara seeing that it is presently never being used.

Jeff.

 

[Roybenz]

@JeffMann i have the exact same experience. That’s why I sold the susvara in the end. Have you heard the moon 430had with elites? I didn’t have the elites when I had the ha300b mk2. So can’t help thinking if I should get it again for the elites. With susvara the ha300b mk2 the sound was bigger and wider but thinner and briggter with susvara on the ha300b mk2 compared to the the moon430ha, wich sounded darker and warmer with more bass. That’s why I got rid of the cayin.

Maybe with the elites it would be a different experience.

 

[turbofeet]

I tested the Susvara very briefly when I bought my Envy and I liked them but also thought they lacked bass.

With different tubes or even a little EQ in the bass region they can produce incredibly powerful bass. You can even tame any brightness.

Unfortunately the Susvara needs quite some investment to get the best out of it.

The Elite is slightly less detailed but honestly its really not that far off the Susvara. They both have an amazing, natural sound. I love them both.

The fact that you can enjoy the Elite out of any source, that bass and that soundstage makes them an excellent choice. Especially if you are after just on pair of headphones that do it all.

Even from my Sony DAP they are just sublime. I can listen to them for hours.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

How is the elite with ha300b mk2 ? Compared to moon 430had if you have heard it ? Or any other good ss amp?

Not a question for me, but I just want to share my finding. If you want solid state amp, I truly recommend Cen Grand Silver Fox. Tube (almost) always in my preference over solid state, but Silver Fox really deliver solidness in sound that actually, I can like it even more than Cayin HA300-II (depend on the other chain of course).

The pros over Cayin are at Soundstage, imaging precision, density of notes, and more lively impact/bite. Cayin, being 300B goodness, deliver sweeter tone, more relax character, with narrower presentation. Rolling tubes make Cayin more flexible to "fine tuning" sound character, even though Silver Fox itself has few modes (BTL, Normal, Active G, and paralell) to change the amp's sound.

 

[Slim1970]

Not a question for me, but I just want to share my finding. If you want solid state amp, I truly recommend Cen Grand Silver Fox. Tube (almost) always in my preference over solid state, but Silver Fox really deliver solidness in sound that actually, I can like it even more than Cayin HA300-II (depend on the other chain of course).

The pros over Cayin are at Soundstage, imaging precision, density of notes, and more lively impact/bite. Cayin, being 300B goodness, deliver sweeter tone, more relax character, with narrower presentation. Rolling tubes make Cayin more flexible to "fine tuning" sound character, even though Silver Fox itself has few modes (BTL, Normal, Active G, and paralell) to change the amp's sound.

The Silver Fox seems to be the perfect blend of tone, note weight, and technicalities. If I had the Silver Fox when I owned the Elites I probably would still have them. I love how this amp infuses musicality into all of my headphones.

 

[tcode]

NHCD!

 

[vsg28]

Elite with the full Earmen stack is a really nice combo for a cramped desk.

 

[oniel459]

I am finally getting through my honeymoon phase of the new angled alcantera, and I'm very glad the elites come with both pads now, because it was all hybrids when I got these a year and a half ago, now I turn to both pads at different times.

The angled alcantera (AA) has been for critical listening, excitement, sessions under 2 hours, the pads I put on for friends and family wanting their first listen to the elites. The hybrids are the pads I put on for emotion, relaxation, organic presentation, getting lost in my music.

The AAs make the elites show off; soundstage deph, detail retreival, air, layering, you name it. These pads disect every song, and still present them in the meze way. These feel more like the TOTL approach I have heard from other cans, except for being forgiving. I have only ran into two songs that left me feeling the music sounded "off", that's a very good track record versus other headphones. I don't think they're perfect, but considering I would never turn to the OG alcanteras, I am very happy to have these.

The hybrids however, are the more convincing pads for me. Between the added weight and height to the music, more organic, real life separation, fuller presentation, my system makes the hybrids closer to what I expect in real life, while still giving me layering, timbre, everything that made me originally fall in love with the elites. Sure the AAs have more air, separation and all that, but it's more what I call “the hifi sound,” or "the hifi approach," putting on a great show that happens to never escape being a hifi system, and not real life. The hybrids don’t fall into that camp for me. Sure they’re not perfect either, nothing is. But switching back to the hybrids makes it once again about the music, and why I fell in love with the elites in the first place.

 

[Roybenz]

I am finally getting through my honeymoon phase of the new angled alcantera, and I'm very glad the elites come with both pads now, because it was all hybrids when I got these a year and a half ago, now I turn to both pads at different times.

The angled alcantera (AA) has been for critical listening, excitement, sessions under 2 hours, the pads I put on for friends and family wanting their first listen to the elites. The hybrids are the pads I put on for emotion, relaxation, organic presentation, getting lost in my music.

The AAs make the elites show off; soundstage deph, detail retreival, air, layering, you name it. These pads disect every song, and still present them in the meze way. These feel more like the TOTL approach I have heard from other cans, except for being forgiving. I have only ran into two songs that left me feeling the music sounded "off", that's a very good track record versus other headphones. I don't think they're perfect, but considering I would never turn to the OG alcanteras, I am very happy to have these.

The hybrids however, are the more convincing pads for me. Between the added weight and height to the music, more organic, real life separation, fuller presentation, my system makes the hybrids closer to what I expect in real life, while still giving me layering, timbre, everything that made me originally fall in love with the elites. Sure the AAs have more air, separation and all that, but it's more what I call “the hifi sound,” or "the hifi approach," putting on a great show that happens to never escape being a hifi system, and not real life. The hybrids don’t fall into that camp for me. Sure they’re not perfect either, nothing is. But switching back to the hybrids makes it once again about the music, and why I fell in love with the elites in the first place.

I agree with this. Have you compared the internal dac og 430had to any other dac with the elite?

 

[oniel459]

.

 

[oniel459]

I agree with this. Have you compared the internal dac og 430had to any other dac with the elite?

Yes, the Cambridge CXN v2, blue sound node 2021 and my dap fiio m11 pro.

The most noteworthy was the CXN, which against the 430 dac, it’s warm, pretty rich but too smooth in the highs for my taste, the warmth isn’t the best pairing for the 430 either. I also feel the technicalities aren’t on moons level. I only turn to it for movies and parties really. I think the sound signature would be great for speakers though, especially ones that struggle to get some low end going.

The node off memory was much closer to neutral, but didn’t give off any wow factor, and detail retrieval could have been better. Dynamics didnt stand out either. I do believe mine struggled with isolation of its circuitry, so maybe for others detail could be better.

 

[adrianm]

Just a reminder, my Dark Mystery Elites are still available if anyone is interested :

https://www.head-fi.org/classifieds...of-100-6-3mm-meze-upgrade-silver-cable.43736/